Owen Broder (alto/tenor/baritone); Sarah Caswell (violin); Scott Wendholt (trumpet/flugel); Nick Finzer (trombone); James Shipp (vibes/perc); Frank Kimbrough (piano); Jay Anderson (bass); Matt Wilson (drums); Wendy Gilles, Kate McGarry, Vuyo Satashe (vocals).
(Review by Lance).
As the name implies, Heritage is saxophonist/composer Broder's exploration of American roots music from Appalachian folk to early blues, spirituals to bluegrass, carefully weaving the elements into another distinctly American musical tradition - jazz.
The album kicks off with Broder's own Appalachian inspired Goin' Up Home with solos by Shipp and Finzer. The latter managing to slot the well known Milt Bernhardt phrase from Kenton's Peanut Vendor into his trombone solo.
Tokyo-born Miho Hazama provided Wherever the Road Leads which gave space for some fine alto playing from Broder, Finzer sans Bernhardt and some country fiddling from Sarah Caswell. An improvised hoedown in them there hills.
Sarah fiddled whilst serving the Jambalaya à la Bill Holman. Holman said: "I picked Jambalaya for its simple melody and harmony, which left space for me to do what arrangers do." It also left space for Wendholt to get some Miles in. Broder added: "This swinging re-imagination of the Cajun tune has closer ties to Birth of the Cool than the streets of New Orleans".
Jim McNeely arranged Cripple Creek drawing parallels with Jazz and Bluegrass. Trumpet, tenor, trombone and fiddle affect the merger of the genres and there ain't a banjo closer than you could throw one. A rousing Dixieland ride-out with some tailgating from Finzer.
Wayfaring Stranger takes me back to my pre-jazz days and a Burl Ives'78'. This Ryan Truesdale arrangement bears little resemblance to the Burl Ives version (or, indeed, Truesdale's Gil Evans' Project). McGarry, Gilles and Sotashe provide words to this bleak landscape that is only made tolerable by Jay Anderson's bass solo.
I'm Not Afraid to Die, a Hazama arrangement of a composition by Gillian Welch, showcases Kimbrough on piano and a mellow flugel solo by Wendholt.
Brodeo, composer Truesdale, captures the atmosphere of the rodeo with the bluegrass and the jazz played out by Caswell and Broder. Wilson's drums perhaps represent the bucking broncos - no, I'm not swearing!
The People Could Fly. Alfonso Horne's piece tells of an African tribe who could fly. They were taken into Slavery and shipped to America where all but one forgot how to fly. That one ancient reminded them how to fly and they flew away to safety. On the album, it is Finzer who flies with down-home earthy plungering. Satashe chants Karuka which means 'to fly'.
Broder wrote A Wiser Man Than me as a New Orleans dirge that allows the group to improvise freely. Broder blows baritone. Classic blues.
An interesting album that grows upon repeated listening.
Lance.
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